1. Discussion Director (Ara Nneka Dialawi)
1. If you are Mia what would you choose? Would you stay or would you let go?why?
Abbygayle, Rica, Nadzla and I answered that if we were Mia we would stay. Even if she doesn't have a family to return to but the fact that we don't know what will happen in our future is so powerful to ignore. There might come a point in the future that could change her life for the better and we can't really say unless we live to face that future. However, Kate and Jovie answered that if they were Mia they would let go. Since she doesn't have a family anymore, there is no reason to come back to life. Although she still have Adam and Kim but losing one's family is a great devastation that can't be healed by only a bestfriend and a boyfriend because no matter what we say, we can't deny that our first love is our family.
2.Why do you think Mia is put in that situation, where she can see everything and choose for her destiny?
In this question, we combined our answers into one.
For us, Mia is put into that situation because it can be her parents way to tell her that she really has to stay and it can also be divine intervention to let her see the different souls that she touched, praying for her to stay because if she is really destined to die why didn't she die in the first place?
3. Why did Mia waited for Adam?
We also agreed in a one answer to this question.
She waited because even if she's already thinking about giving up and already imagining what would happen if she give up, she still have a part in her deep down there that is still hoping that Adam could do something to change her mind. Also she saw what Adam did when she's in the ICU, she saw that he didn't give up to her after seeing how hopeless she is. So in her part, she could also do the same to Adam and stay no matter how hard it is for her.
4. What is the similarity of Mia's perception of the cello and of herself?
What they answered is the similarity of the cello and Mia, which is Calm and Quiet. Calm and Quiet, because the cello is an instrument that omits sounds that are soothing to the ears, it is relaxing and peaceful just like what we feel when we are calm and quiet. Moreover, Mia is just a simple girl, she doesn't have a complicated life, she doesn't seek for popularity or fame she's just simple like a cello, just a calm and quiet girl.
My answer is different because for me the similarity of Mia's perception of the cello and of herself, is being an outcast. Mia perceived the cello as an instrument who can't play along with other instruments because it will sound bad, she only thinks of it as a solo instrument. At the same time, she considers herself an outcast to her own family because she thinks that she doesn't look like her parents much and they have a different genre of music compared to her.
5. If you could change one thing in the story, what would it be and why?
Kate answered that she would not let Mia's family die, because that factor really made the story too tragic. They were just a simple perfect family yet in the blink of an eye everything's gone and its not that easy to accept, it is so unfair.
Jovie answered that she would let Teddy survive because he's too young to die. So many thing could still happen to him, he could still do a lot of things and it's just not right to take away his chance of having a great life.
Abbygayle answered that she would not change anything because after all the bad things that happened, there are still those little positive things that came up. Adam and Kim became friends for Mia's sake, they forgot about their issues with each other and stand together for her. So even if Mia doesn't have a family anymore yet her bestfriend and boyfriend are on good terms, she can live with it.
Nadzla answered that she would also let Teddy live, so that Mia would still have a more reason to stay. They could support each other in facing the future without their parents. Also, because Nadzla's not contented about the life that Teddy lived, its too short for him.
Rica answered that she would change the family's accident into just Mia and Adam's accident and they would both be critical. So that the story would not be too heart breaking, they would both become wandering souls and see each other and decide what they would do. It would not be a hard decision to make and they still have each other.
My answer is that i would also not change anything about the story, simply because its already a perfect story. If I stay describes life as what it is, its cruel, its unfair, its heart breaking but it also has hope, love and faith. So even if I dont really liked what happened in the story but I accepted and understand it because that's what reality is, you have to accept things and just be thankful for what you still have. It is the reality in a fiction book that made it, for me, perfect.
2. Literary luminary/ passage picker (Mae Andria Tabaosares)
1. * “If I stay. If I live. It’s up to me. All this business about medically induced comes is just doctor talk. It’s not up to the doctors. It’s not out of the absentee angels. It’s not even up to God who, if He exists, is nowhere around right now. It’s up to me.”
- Mia
This passage is indeed meaningful. It has something to tell us that’s why I chose it – life’s lesson. Most of us are afraid to die and blame God to every dolorous situation we have been encountering. But, the message above depicts that “It’s up to us” either to stay or to decide to let go. On the other hand, no one knows when we will die.
2. * Loyalty to feelings is important.
In every relationship, loyalty matters. It’s a simple word yet has a meaningful message for us. Moreover, the line above can be implied or shown in the relationship of Adam and Mia. Despite of the accident neither happened to Mia’s family, Adam never left Mia’s side nor gave her up until he could truly hear her voice and that’s an amazing manifestation of loyalty towards your special someone – friend, brother, sister father or mother.
3. * Dying is easy. Living is hard.
The passage is an eye-opener to us. Indeed, to be in grave condition is easy to happen but living in this fickle fancy world is quite difficult. Living requires us to suffer, weep, stumble and fail before we understand what really living means. Avalanche of tears would first cover your eyes before you’ll laugh again. But in just one shot of gun or the sharp edge of a knife, our life would suddenly vanish.
4. * Life might take you down different roads but each of you gets to decide which one to take.
In every decision, ours should be the final. It is the same with the two lines, “I am the master of my faith, I am the captain of my soul.” No one knows our future, its God alone. Life might give us different choices of roads to take but it’s up to us to which road we take. In addition, it’s either the easy or the difficult road.
5. * Amazing things happen when you stop hiding behind that hulking beast.
It’s one way of saying that amazing things happen when we go beyond our comfort zone. Definitely, the passage tells right. We won’t become experts if we won’t try hard to surpass all undertakings life might give us but it is through facing every challenge and claim that we will be triumphant in the end of our race.
3. Connector (Nadzla Adal)
• BOTH LIVE FOR LOVE
The story of If I Stay reminds me of If Only It Were True which I found them somehow a bittersweet story. The connection between the protagonists were both lived and saved by love of those who remain around them while they were in between life and death situation. The protagonists were both in coma. In If I stay, Adam has proved his love to Mia and so as Arthur to Lauren in If only It Were True although they would look lame, desperate and crazy in the eyes of other people around them.
The story of If I Stay reminds me of If Only It Were True which I found them somehow a bittersweet story. The connection between the protagonists were both lived and saved by love of those who remain around them while they were in between life and death situation. The protagonists were both in coma. In If I stay, Adam has proved his love to Mia and so as Arthur to Lauren in If only It Were True although they would look lame, desperate and crazy in the eyes of other people around them.
Unfortunately, in the hospital where Mia was confined, the staff and nurses didn't allow Adam to enter the ICU not even once even if he begged many times. However, he never gave up to see and to be with Mia. He never failed to show how much he loved her. Hence, he desperately used Brooke Vega as a part of his some great ruse planned to see his love.
Let’s connect it to Arthur’s feeling for Lauren. He sees her, talks to her, and touches her when no one else so much as sensed her presence. He talked to her as if he was talking to himself. His best friend Paul, even thought of sending Arthur to a Psychiatrist because he looked really gone crazy. Anyhow, they didn't notice how Arthur and Lauren cherished and shared their magical bond.
That statements only proved Adam was crazy in love with Mia, as Arthur with Lauren.
I think the utilization of the car accident in these stories is as a “pivot point” within the period of not alive and not dead and how the events influenced the future of both protagonists, MIA AND LAUREN. It sounds as though their “not alive” period focuses mostly on Mia’s family and friends while on Lauren’s stranger love – Arthur and his very alive mother. And it is how they would cope with the aftermath of the accident.
We learned the importance of people outside their family such as Mia’s best friend Kim , and love of her life , boyfriend Adam and such as Lauren’s perfect stranger love. These characters help them to make their life changing decisions and those characters give reasons to stay. Kim shows Mia that although she has lost her immediately family the rest of her family and friends are still there. Adam shows her that he needs her, and he will do anything and everything for her if he just stays. Same as Arthur, who would find ways to save Lauren when the doctors prepared to end her physical care.
Both stories had shown us that our decisions aren't only chosen by us but the people around us that shape our lives to make us who we are and back to life.
4. Character Captain (Abbygayle Basio)
A. Mia Hall – is the protagonist. She’s quiet, kind, musically gifted. Above all things, she loves her family, her cello, and her friends. Mia struggles with belonging, often feeling like she’s out of place next to her rock n’ roll, rebellious family and boyfriend. She is quiet individual who prefers to keep to herself. She recently begins to view her heritage with a tiny degree of doubt, due to her lack of similarities in character and demeanor.
B. Kim Schein – is Mia’s best friend. They are said to be very alike and are perceived as dark and studious --- assumptions that often work to their advantage. Kim is sarcastic and obedient to her emotional mother. She and Mia are inseparable, which becomes apparent by the amount of devotion she shows to getting Adam to see Mia, though they have never liked each other, as is seen countless times in flashbacks.
C. Adam Wilde – Is Mia’s boyfriend. He is genuinely a nice guy who cares for everyone he knows. Adam has loved Mia for a long time, and they have stereotypical relationship --- but they love each other more than most people as young as they are. Adam is hopeless romantic and does anything for the people he loves, even if it means letting them go. Adam is a swoon. He isn't afraid to be himself, either even though he is a rocker and Mia plays cello. He loves his entire being; he gives himself over to emotion and is unapologetic about it.
5. Artistic Adventurer (Rica Ann Colina)
6. Vocabulary Enricher (Jovie Ann Matanguihan)
1. RESILIENCE
"I'm amazed by their resilience, by their hidden pockets of strength."
Noun. "Act of rebounding" from the Latin resiliens, present participle of resilire "to rebound or to recoil", from re- "back" + salire "to jump or leap"
2. RESENT
"The more that happened, the more we resented it -- and each other."
Verb.Take (something) ill; be in some degree angry or provoked at. C 1600. From French ressintir "feel pain or regret", from old French resentir "feel again, feel in turn". From re- , intensive prefix, sentir "to feel". From Latin sentire.
3. COMPELLED
" I felt compelled to give myself reasons why I hated Kim: she was a goody two-shoe. She was annoying."
Verb.mid-14c., from Old French compellir, from Latin compellere "to drive together, drive to one place" (of cattle), "to force or compel" (of persons), from com- "together" + pellere "to drive" .
4. ELICITED
"Nobody had ever called me that before and I thought I was automatically furious, deep down I was also flattered that I had elicited enough emotion to be worthy of the name."
verb.1640s, from Latin elicitus, past participle of elicere "draw forth," from ex- "out" + -licere, comb. form of lacere "to entice, lure, deceive" (related to laqueus "noose, snare;" see lace (n.)).
5. TRIFECTA
"Fighting was novelty at our school. Girl fighting was extra special. And good girls going at it was like hitting the trifecta."
noun. 1974, from tri- + perfecta.
6. FRENETIC
"But it seemed right, it seemed true to Kerry, who was always overflowing eith frenetic energy."
Adjective. late 14c., from Old French frenetike, from Latin phreneticus "delirious," alteration of Greek phrenitikos, from phrenitis "frenzy," literally "inflammation of the brain," from phren "mind, reason" (from PIE *gwhren- "to think") + -itis. The classical ph- was restored mid-16c. Related: Frenetically.
7. BLASÉ
"She listened to my diatribe, her expressiob fully blasé."
Adjective. "bored from overindulgence," 1819, from French blasé, past participle of blaser "to satiate" (17c.), of unknown origin. Perhaps from Dutch blazen "to blow" (related to English blast), with a sense of "puffed up under the effects of drinking."
8. STUPOR
" I'm grateful for it, if only because it's pulled him out of his emotional stupor, I saw in the hallway outside the ICU."
Noun.Late 14c., from Latin stupor "insensibility, numbness, dullness," from stupere "be stunned" .
9. RUSE
"Then again, if I were the regular old Mia, Brooke Vega would not be in this hospital lobby as part of some great ruse to get Adam in to see me."
Noun. early 15c., "dodging movements of a hunted animal;" 1620s, "a trick," from Old French ruse, reuse "diversion, switch in flight; trick, jest" (14c.), back-formed noun from reuser "to dodge, repel, retreat; deceive, cheat," from Latin recusare "deny, reject, oppose," from re-, intensive prefix , + causari "plead as a reason, object, allege," from causa "reason, cause" . It also has been proposed that the French word may be from Latin rursus "backwards," or a Vulgar Latin form of refusare. Johnson calls it, "A French word neither elegant nor necessary." The verb ruse was used in Middle English.
10. CHURLISH
" I'd still rather have gone to the dentist than to one of his shows which was so churlish."
Adjective. Late Old English cierlisc "of or pertaining to churls," from churl + -ish. Meaning "deliberately rude" is late 14c. Related: Churlishly; churlishness.
Reason:
The words I've chosen are not just words that were precisely parallel to the subject of a sentence but those words are substantial enough to sustain the flow of the emotions of the reader as he continues to read thd story.
Author's purpose:
The author's purpose in using these words is to give empathy, for the readers to be able to feel and understand the intensity of the characters' feelings towards every situation or even memories. Words used were parallel to the siuations and emotions. It is also a very effective way for the readers to follow the flow of the emotions in the story and to come up with realizations at the end.
7. Summarizer (Kate Diosomito)
A 17-year-old Mia woke up on a snowy morning, her family celebrated their unexpected holiday. As her parents and her brother Teddy planned what to do with their spare time from work and school, the family visited old family friends, stopped by an enormous bookstore, and then planned to swing by to eat dinner with Mia’s grandparents. As they were on their way to Mia’s grandparents’ house, her father turned on the stereo andlistened to the classical music station. Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 3 is playing when Mia closes her eyes and in a second, Mia’s life changes forever. A truck crashes into the car carrying her and her family as they drive down an icy road. Mia’s parents were killed instantly, but she and her younger brother, Teddy, were rushed to the hospital.Mia had an out of body experience that allows her to see and hear everything. Mia followed her body as it is transported to an intensive care unit in a big city hospital, all the while reflecting on her first date with Adam and how their musical passions were completely different and yet unite them.
Mia, the one lying in a coma in an ICU bed is in serious condition, with a collapsed lung, ruptured spleen, internal bleeding, and damage to her brain. As the doctors worked to repair her shattered body, the conscious Mia reminisces about her life and watches her grandparents, Kim, Adam and other relatives visit her. Mia learned further devastating news about the consequences of the car accident. She also realized that she had a very important decision to make
Should she stay or just let go?
